Category: Online shopping for Marrakech products

Marrakech goods available online

We’ve written previously about shopping for Marrakech goods online – usually from Europe. If you are in N. America, our latest find is Imports from Marrakech based in the Chelsea Market in NYC. As well as an online business, they also have a brick and mortar building with a dazzling selection of treasures from Mohamed’s favorite artisans in Marrakesh–babouches, berber bags, belts, hookahs, magic carpets, wedding blankets, Berber pillows, leather poufs, lanterns, tiles, silver tables, tea-pots, brass trays, jewel-tone tea-glasses and more.

Xmas shopping in Marrakech 0r not in Marrakech

Would you like to make Xmas shopping easy and also find some unique gifts from Marrakech‬? If you can’t go there then you can buy from this onlinestore‬ for Moroccan handicrafts and high-quality items http://soukdunord.

For further information on online stores selling beautiful gift items from Marrakech see our blog article

We are pleased to see yet another cooperative development melding Western design with Moroccan skills – with the aim to work together with a team of local Moroccan craftspeople designing quality goods in a contemporary way. Abury produces a range of trendy goods.

If you travel to Marrakech you can source these goods yourself either shopping in the local souks or going to the design district of Sidi Ghanem. But if you can’t get to Marrakech, then you can order these goods online.

Etsy (www.etsy.com) is a huge online marketplace. If you’ve not heard of it, as we hadn’t until recently, think of it as a kind of fashionable ebay without the auction element. It’s full of arts and crafts inspired items and is a colourful way to shop online whether you’re looking for homewares, clothes or just some ideas.

If you put in a search for Morocco all kinds of wonderful things come up.

That leather pouffe you couldn’t quite carry back? They’ve got those, in tan, pink and every other colour of the rainbow too. Or how about a Moroccan-inspired hipflask? Yup, they have plenty of those as well.

Whilst browsing on the site we discovered the Izzizi Interiors range, which offers authentic, vintage Beni Ourain and Marmoucha Berber rugs from the mountains of Morocco – not cheap but very chic (www.etsy.com/uk/shop/IzziziInteriors)

American designers Caitlin and Samuel Dowe-Sandes live in Marrakech and own the Moroccan tile company Popham Design.

Inspired by the traditional style of Moroccan cement tiles, all the tiles they create have been carefully made by hand by skilled artisans in their Marrakech factory.

The designers say that they are inspired by everyday life in Marrakech, from “the curve of an arch, a delicate carved wooden ceiling, the branch of an almond tree” to “the shadow cast by the wheel of a donkey cart”.

Grouped into four collections – scribbles + loops, classics + twists, flora + fauna, and plain + shapely – the patterns have been designed with flexibility in mind so that they can sit together in many different ways.

The tiles can work as wall and floor coverings and can be put outside or in – they’re expensive but given the degree of artistry involved, this is not surprising. The tiles are for sale around the world in selected showrooms and via the website. To find out more and to see the designs, visit www.pophamdesign.com

We recently found out about a small company called Al Nour who produce beautiful, hand-embroidery which has been created by disabled female artisans in Marrakech.

Al Nour is a social enterprise which, along with the retail arm, includes a day care centre and a professional training centre. By shopping at Al Nour your dirhams go directly towards helping to support these hard-working artisan women.

You can shop online too for these hand embroidered textiles which are made from 100% natural fibres in either linen, cotton, wool, pashmina or silk. The designs are beautifully simple and we particularly like the children’s travel pouch, the collection for babies and the traditional hammam-style towels. Best of all, the home textiles can be made to measure.

Recognisable from their stylish camel branding, Sissimorocco are well known to style aficionados in Morocco and worldwide.

With products that expertly capture the atmosphere of Morocco, their cushions, lampshades, curtains, dishes often feature subtle Moroccan themes from palm trees and donkeys to oriental headdresses. Colours tend to either be the bright, sun-soaked colours we all associate with the souks of Marrakech, orange, red, purple or else brownish sepia tints that perfectly evoke old faded postcards.

It’s not all household goods though, but also accessories including pouches, bags, slippers, tunics and hand embroidered shawls. Many of the pieces are unique and have been crafted using traditional Moroccan artistry. An excellent souvenir or gift, or dare we say it – Christmas present!

The shop is open every day except Tuesday, from 10.30am to 7pm, Souk Cherifia. sissimorocco.com/en

We are all aglow over these colourful, well-designed and handmade children’s toys. Zid Zid Kids began in Marrakech in the spring of 2003 where the directors were inspired by how children play. Just recently the business shifted to Tangiers, but in between that time Zid Zid Kids have won awards in France at Maison & Objet and in Amsterdam at Kleine Fabriek and in Morocco. So, what makes them so special? Well the products are utterly unique and children love them. From the airplane backpacks to the ‘petit poofs’ and clothes, all are special and inspire creativity with their original flair.

Every product is designed and produced in Tangier by Moroccan female and male artisans using a combination of old traditions combined with modern day techniques. Fair trade is also at the heart of what they do and Zid Zid Kids is recognized as a ‘Leading Artisan’ in the Kingdom of Morocco for their quality and workplace standards by the American Chamber of Commerce in Morocco.

Recycled and reclaimed fabrics are used throughout, tapping into the abundance of leftover fabrics from local manufacturers, also the leather is cured by hand and chemicals are never used.

Yahya Rouach’s client list may now include Harrods and Saudi princes, but don’t let that put you off. His lanterns and screens may be highly sought-after but given the amount of work that goes into each and every one, they are worth every dirham. The arcade outlet in Guèliz is more of a showroom than a shop, but it deserves to be visited nonetheless.

Yahya is known as the ‘genie’ of Moroccan lanterns and he makes these in either bronze, nickel or silver. His wall-hangings and lanterns are hand-crafted in the traditional way with perforated metalwork. The perforations make for wonderful shadows and all pieces are completely unique. With such precision in every piece, it is almost impossible to believe that it is man, not machine, who has created them. The band of artisan staff who work with Yahya have all been personally selected and have been drawn from all corners of Morocco and together they all work with tiny jewellery saws to make these fabulous creations.

Look out for the backlit mirrors, which are particularly special, and note that most of the pieces are now collectors’ items.

While we thoroughly recommend getting into the souk and shopping for your own carefully sourced rug, we have to admit that we are rather taken with Kulchi, an Australian-owned company who have a showroom in Marrakech (appointment only, +212 (0) 639 221 259).

Owned by Cassandra Karinsky, who has lived and experienced Morocco over the past six years, she first designed her own kaftan range before moving into the world of interiors. Today, with a colleague, she sources the finest quality –and original- carpets and mats from trusted sources.

Also, as well as textiles, furniture and rugs Kulchi works with Patrick Manac’h in Marrakech to sell prints of his collection of images of Moroccan daily life – dating back to the 1870’s. They are available on semi-gloss in sepia or black and white, a great gift for anyone with a love of Morocco.

Kulchi (meaning ‘everything’ in Arabic) is also a great resource if you get home and decide you want to commission your own carpet or if you, like us, admire Cassandra’s chic taste.